Legislature(2023 - 2024)ADAMS 519
05/08/2024 09:00 AM House FINANCE
Note: the audio ![]()
and video ![]()
recordings are distinct records and are obtained from different sources. As such there may be key differences between the two. The audio recordings are captured by our records offices as the official record of the meeting and will have more accurate timestamps. Use the icons to switch between them.
| Audio | Topic |
|---|---|
| Start | |
| SB29 | |
| SB34 | |
| Adjourn |
* first hearing in first committee of referral
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
+ teleconferenced
= bill was previously heard/scheduled
| + | SB 99 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 228 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | TELECONFERENCED | ||
| + | SB 29 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 34 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 91 | TELECONFERENCED | |
| + | SB 95 | TELECONFERENCED | |
HOUSE FINANCE COMMITTEE
May 8, 2024
9:05 a.m.
9:05:45 AM
CALL TO ORDER
Co-Chair Foster called the House Finance Committee meeting
to order at 9:05 a.m.
MEMBERS PRESENT
Representative Neal Foster, Co-Chair
Representative DeLena Johnson, Co-Chair
Representative Julie Coulombe
Representative Mike Cronk
Representative Alyse Galvin
Representative Sara Hannan
Representative Andy Josephson
Representative Dan Ortiz
Representative Will Stapp
Representative Frank Tomaszewski
MEMBERS ABSENT
Representative Bryce Edgmon, Co-Chair
ALSO PRESENT
Tim Lamkin, Staff, Senator Gary Stevens; Senator James
Kaufman, Sponsor; John Crowther, Deputy Commissioner,
Department of Natural Resources; Emma Torkelson, Staff,
Senator James Kaufman.
PRESENT VIA TELECONFERENCE
Lisa Boudreau, Director of State Policy, Civics Now,
Washington DC; Kelly Manning, Deputy Director, Division of
Innovation and Education Excellence, Department of
Education and Early Development; Charlie Lean, Member,
Citizens Advisory Commission on Federal Areas, Nome.
SUMMARY
CSSB 29(FIN)
CIVICS EDUCATION
CSSB 29(FIN) was HEARD and HELD in committee for
further consideration.
CSSB 34(FIN)
CITIZEN ADVISORY COMM ON FEDERAL AREAS
CSSB 34(FIN) was HEARD and HELD in committee for
further consideration.
CSSB 91(FIN)
TELEHEALTH: MULTIDISCIPLINARY CARE TEAM
CSSB 91(FIN) was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
CSSB 95(STA)am
LIC. PLATES: SPECIALTY ORGS/PEACE OFFICER
CSSB 95(STA) was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
CSSB 99(EDC)
FINANCIAL LITERACY PROGRAM IN SCHOOLS
CSSB 99(STA) was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
CSSB 118(FIN)
CRITICAL NATURAL RESOURCES; REPORTS
CSSB 118(FIN) was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
SB 228 EXTEND BOARD OF MASSAGE THERAPISTS
SB 228 was SCHEDULED but not HEARD.
Co-Chair Foster reviewed the meeting agenda.
9:07:30 AM
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 29(FIN)
"An Act relating to civics education, civics
assessments, and secondary school graduation
requirements; and providing for an effective date."
9:07:55 AM
TIM LAMKIN, STAFF, SENATOR GARY STEVENS, introduced SB 29.
He relayed that Senator Stevens had been working on the
bill for many years. He explained that the bill represented
an effort to restore the younger generation's faith and
understanding of the government system. The bill called for
the creation of a civics curriculum and a required exam or
project-based civics assessment for graduating high school
seniors. He relayed that Senator Stevens often said that it
was a high-stakes issue but would not be a high-stakes
test. The goal of the bill was to foster citizenship,
voting, and community engagement, which was a fundamental
purpose of the public education system. He would provide a
brief introduction of the bill but he would be happy to go
through the bill in more detail if the committee wished.
Co-Chair Foster asked if the invited testifiers were
available.
Mr. Lamkin explained that Ms. Lisa Boudreau represented a
national picture of the civics education effort and was
available to testify. Also available was former UAS
[University of Alaska Southeast] Chancellor John Pugh. He
had asked both testifiers to be brief.
Co-Chair Foster noted that Chancellor Pugh was no longer
online.
9:10:05 AM
LISA BOUDREAU, DIRECTOR OF STATE POLICY, CIVICS NOW,
WASHINGTON DC (via teleconference), explained that Civics
Now was a national coalition focused on strengthening civic
education. She opined that Civics Now offered the most
promising bipartisan long-term plans with policy
recommendations, such as access to more professional
development for civics educators and proper assessment for
teachers, among several other recommendations. The most
important of the policy recommendations was to spend more
instructional time on civics in school. Civics education
had been neglected over the past 50 years. The Council of
Chief State School Officers estimated that 44 percent of
districts had cut back on instructional time for social
studies over the last 20 years. Studies showed a
significant drop in American knowledge of government and
basic rights and school test scores had also dropped;
however, she was encouraged that there was strong
bipartisan support for improvement. She shared that two-
thirds of all voters wanted more civics education in
schools.
Ms. Boudreau shared that state legislators had also noticed
that there was a problem and 21 measures across 23
different states had been passed in the last two years to
improve civics education. In the current legislative
session, there were 151 civics education bills in progress
across 33 states. She noted that 109 of the bills followed
Civics Now's policy recommendations. She explained that SB
29 reflected the national trends and would require students
to take a civics course in high school as a graduation
requirement paired with either a test or project-based
assessment. She urged the committee to support the bill.
9:12:46 AM
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.
Co-Chair Foster CLOSED public testimony.
9:13:24 AM
Representative Hannan asked how many states had curriculum
directives as a statewide effort. For example, she wondered
if Alabama oversaw which math curriculums were offered in
the state. She relayed that Alaska had 54 school districts
and most of the decisions about curriculums were made by
the school districts. She clarified that she was looking
for a comparison between the number of states that had
directives at the state level versus at the district level.
Ms. Boudreau responded that currently, 37 states and
Washington D.C. mandated a civics course in high school and
curriculum choices were often made at the local level. Some
states were involved in helping develop a curriculum, but
usually teachers from the community and districts were
recruited to help write the curriculum.
Representative Hannan asked if the 37 states had detailed
course requirements or simply required a certain number of
civics credits to graduate. She asked if other academic
subjects were treated similarly.
Ms. Boudreau responded that her expertise was in the civics
field and she was unsure about other school subjects.
Mr. Lamkin added that there was a relevant document in
committee packets (copy on file) titled "What Other States
are Doing." He explained that Alaska's focus was solely on
civics education at present.
Representative Hannan asked how many states required
government or civics to graduate.
Mr. Lamkin responded that he was aware of only one district
with a specific civics requirement.
Representative Hannan asked if government courses were
considered civics education.
Mr. Lamkin argued that government courses could also focus
on history and not necessarily on projecting public
engagement with governance systems. The bill aimed to
encourage younger generations to become more engaged in the
system of government.
9:16:46 AM
Representative Josephson asked whether the national efforts
to increase civics education were similar to SB 29. He
wondered if national efforts also focused attention on
communist regimes that suppressed speech but not on right-
wing regimes that suppressed speech, like Russian President
Vladimir Putin's regime.
Ms. Boudreau responded that the bill sponsor included
language on comparative systems of government and addressed
the intent of language concerning communist regimes.
Representative Tomaszewski expressed that he was taken
aback by Representative Josephson's comments about the
right-wing Putin regime. He thought that there had been
recent groups of protestors destroying cities in the U.S.
who were wearing shirts depicting Fidel Castro. He
understood that the shirts were championing people like
Castro as good people. Such events showed him that civics
education was important because it was crucial to inform
young people about how people like Mao Zedong, Vladimir
Lenin, Joseph Stalin, Castro, and Pol Pot murdered over a
hundred million people in the last century and starved
their citizens to death.
9:19:00 AM
Representative Ortiz understood that graduating high school
seniors would need to pass a test or take a course if the
bill were to be adopted. He asked if he could be provided
with a copy of the test.
Mr. Lamkin responded that committee packets included a copy
of the U.S. immigration test (copy on file) that was given
to immigrants seeking U.S. citizenship. He relayed that the
civics test would be similar. The test had an 80 percent
pass rate amongst prospective immigrants, and he thought
the test was straightforward. He clarified that the
language of the bill would offer students a choice between
taking the written exam that he referenced or completing a
project-based assessment that demonstrated engagement in
local government.
Representative Ortiz shared that he was a social studies
teacher for 32 years and he could appreciate the value of
promoting civics understanding amongst young people. He
asked whether the course needed to include "civics" in the
title or if it could be titled "American Government." He
thought that government courses could address similar
topics and relayed that in Ketchikan, the high school
government course required that students attend local
school board meetings or city government meetings. He asked
if the course could have a different title and which entity
was responsible for determining which courses qualified as
civics courses.
Mr. Lamkin responded that he did not think that the senator
would object to the course being titled "American
Government" or something similar as long as the content of
the course fulfilled the civics criteria.
Representative Ortiz asked who would be the gatekeeper
determining whether the course fulfilled the requirements
of the bill.
Mr. Lamkin responded that the Department of Education and
Early Development (DEED) would develop the curriculum and
assessment and districts could use the information. There
would be a component on students' transcripts that would
indicate whether the course had been completed upon
graduation. He relayed that DEED would ultimately have the
responsibility to verify that the course had been passed
using the information on the transcripts.
9:23:22 AM
KELLY MANNING, DEPUTY DIRECTOR, DIVISION OF INNOVATION AND
EDUCATION EXCELLENCE, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION and EARLY
DEVELOPMENT, JUNEAU (via teleconference), reviewed the
fiscal impact note from DEED with the control code qxpAP.
The fiscal note detailed a one-time cost of $276,000;
$6,000 of which would simply cover the legal fees to update
the regulation. The department would convene an educator
working group and hire a facilitator to support the
department in developing the assessment and curriculum. The
department would also review the statewide social studies
standards and ensure that the standards were aligned with
all of the components in the bill. The upfront cost of the
bill would pay for the development of the course and making
the course available to districts.
Representative Josephson stated that he has been a history-
endorsed teacher since 1991 and took the teaching of
history seriously. He was concerned with subsection (b) at
the top of page 2 of the bill. He noted that the
educational focus of the course was on "admittedly bad"
left-wing regimes. He asked if he were teaching under the
requirements of the bill, would he be allowed to say that
Mao Zedong's predecessor, Chiang Kai-shek, was corrupt and
was backed by the United States government. He relayed that
Chiang Kai-shek was insensitive to poverty in his country
and a revolution began after World War II in response to
the situation. He asked if educators would be permitted to
provide some context as none of the regimes happened
organically. For example, the corrupt Batista regime
preceded Fidel Castro's rise to power. He argued that there
was a broader story to be told and asked if a teacher would
be allowed to tell the entire story.
Mr. Lamkin responded that the committee could spend a lot
of time discussing such topics. He did not think that
subsection (b) would preclude conversation or criticism of
any of the other comparative systems of government or
regimes. The subsection was added simply to ensure that the
specific topics would be covered in civics education
courses. The language of the bill intended to permit
discussion of all comparative systems of government used
around the world and would include all regimes and systems
of government.
9:27:29 AM
Representative Josephson remarked that he was originally
confused about the language of the subsection because it
did not seem consistent with Senator Stevens's principles,
but he realized that the bill was a committee substitute
from the House Education Committee and the language in
subsection (b) did not come from Senator Stevens.
Representative Hannan asked how many of Alaska's 54 school
districts already required students to take a government
course to graduate.
Ms. Manning responded that she would return to
Representative Hannan with the information. She was not
aware of DEED collecting such information, but the
districts collected the information.
Representative Stapp thought that subsection (b) was a
fantastic part of the bill and he did not think it went far
enough. He would strike the word "communist" and replace it
with the word "Marxist-socialist." All of the regimes
listed in the section originated from a Marxist-socialist
ideology. He thought it was important for students to
understand the weight of the ideology. He argued that the
ideology was "catastrophically devastating for the welfare
of humankind." He remarked that he was passionate about
learning history as well and thought that Representative
Josephson's comments about Chiang Kai-shek were unfair
given the context of World War II and China's history. He
thought it was important for kids to study history.
Representative Stapp continued and asked if the sponsor of
the bill would be amenable to adding a document called "The
Magyar Struggle" to the list of covered regimes in
subsection (b). He explained that the document was
published by Joseph Engels and Karl Marx in the Neue
Rheinische Zeitung, which was a newspaper that explicitly
linked Marxist-socialism to ethnic and social hierarchy. He
thought that kids should be educated about the impact of
Marxist-socialism.
9:31:22 AM
Representative Galvin remarked that it seemed like the bill
was focusing more on history education than on present-day
democracy and on educating students on ways to become an
engaged citizen. She asked how common it was to require
three hours of instruction on Mao Zedong, Vladimir Lenin,
Joseph Stalin, and other similar figureheads.
Ms. Boudreau responded that it was not a common requirement
in civics education legislation. She understood that the
House Education Committee added the mandate and it was not
part of the original bill.
Representative Galvin asked if there would still be enough
time in civics classes to cover other topics if an
additional three hours of instruction were included in the
curriculum.
Ms. Boudreau responded that she was unable to answer the
question and it would be better suited for DEED.
9:34:12 AM
Co-Chair Foster set an amendment deadline for SB 29 on
Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 p.m.
SB 29 was HEARD and HELD for further consideration.
9:34:31 AM
CS FOR SENATE BILL NO. 34(FIN)
"An Act reestablishing the Citizens' Advisory
Commission on Federal Management Areas in Alaska;
relating to the membership and duties of the Citizens'
Advisory Commission on Federal Management Areas in
Alaska; relating to the authority of the Department of
Natural Resources regarding the Citizens' Advisory
Commission on Federal Management Areas in Alaska; and
providing for an effective date."
9:35:18 AM
SENATOR JAMES KAUFMAN, SPONSOR, introduced the bill and
explained that it would reestablish the Citizens' Advisory
Commission on Federal Areas (CACFA). He understood that the
committee had discussed HB 83, which was the companion
bill, and he was prepared to discuss the changes made in
the Senate.
Co-Chair Foster suggested that Senator Kaufman give a brief
introduction.
Senator Kaufman explained that CACFA was comprised of 10
public members, one senator, and one representative. The
commission's role was to represent the views of Alaska's
citizens concerning federal land management plans within
the state. The commission was responsible for the
following: holding hearings to collect public comment on
the commission's decisions, disseminating information about
old and new regulations to the public, executive branch,
and legislature, monitoring the Federal Register, regularly
submitting written comments in response to actions that
affected Alaska, working proactively with federal agencies
to resolve issues, and helping Alaskans navigate federal
permitting processes.
Senator Kaufman added that the Senate engaged in
substantive committee work over the interim to engage with
stakeholders. He relayed that SB 34 differed in four
substantive ways from HB 83. The first and second changes
added language clarifying that CACFA was housed in the
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for administrative
purposes and that the commission independently determined
which issues to take up. The change came about because of
concerns that CACFA was operating as just another arm of
DNR to supplement ongoing work. He noted that the language
also clarified that CACFA and its executive director
operated independently of DNR.
Senator Kaufman relayed that the third change established
that the ten public non-legislative members must represent
all four judicial districts, with no more than three
members being from one district. The purpose of the change
was to improve the geographic distribution of
representation. The fourth change mandated that at least
one CACFA seat would be reserved for a member of a
federally recognized tribe, and at least one other seat
would be reserved for an Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act (ANCSA) shareholder. The perspective of ANCSA
corporations and Alaskan tribes was an invaluable resource
to the commission. The tribes and the Alaska Native
corporations already worked closely with the federal
government and had insight into federal issues. The final
change was updating the effective date to July 1, 2024.
9:38:58 AM
Co-Chair Foster welcomed the visitors watching the
committee proceedings in the room.
Representative Josephson shared he had taken a tour of the
USS William P. Lawrence vessel and understood that the
commander of the ship was present in the committee room.
9:40:07 AM
Co-Chair Foster OPENED public testimony.
9:40:38 AM
CHARLIE LEAN, MEMBER, CITIZENS ADVISORY COMMISSION ON
FEDERAL AREAS, NOME (via teleconference), shared that he
was a member of CACFA and was the last acting chair of the
body. He was enthusiastic about the changes that would make
CACFA independent of DNR; however, the commission would
remain dependent on clerical and administrative support due
to the available budget. The director of CACFA would be
overwhelmed with administrative duties instead of
interfacing with the public and the commission itself. He
liked the idea of a statewide distribution of members and
the inclusion of Alaska Native members. The commission had
been effective at speaking with federal land managers and
expressing statewide concerns. He thought that having
advocates in CACFA to assist with communicating with
federal agencies was helpful to the public, but the
benefits of CACFA were not fully understood by the public.
9:44:28 AM
JOHN CROWTHER, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL
RESOURCES, reviewed the fiscal note prepared by DNR with
the control code dndrg. There was a projected out-year cost
of approximately $200,000 in operating expenditures which
was driven by the additional executive director position.
There were associated costs with the addition of the
position, such as expanding the workspace and purchasing
additional equipment, as well as occasional travel costs.
Co-Chair Foster noted that he would keep public testimony
open to allow other testifiers the chance to call in.
Representative Cronk thanked Senator Kaufman for his work.
He explained that his constituents were in favor of the
bill. The issue was important because there were so many
federal areas in the state and utilizing an advisory
committee to represent the people was valuable.
9:46:44 AM
Representative Galvin remarked that she also appreciated
the work of the sponsor. She had looked at a past audit and
it seemed like the commission was worthwhile and
facilitated public understanding and engagement. She asked
why there was no duplicity considering the favorable
treatment of the commission in the audit.
Senator Kaufman responded that it was due to funding. He
explained that the intent was for CACFA to act as a
navigator and potentially save the state money by avoiding
lawsuits. He thought that if the commission could help the
state avoid just one lawsuit, it could recoup more than the
cost of the fiscal note in savings.
Co-Chair Foster reminded the public that the House
companion bill had been heard by the committee on numerous
occasions. He thought that the public might think the
process was too quick, but the bill had been heard many
times before in various forms.
9:49:02 AM
Representative Stapp liked the bill and thought the
commission should have never been sunsetted. He thought
there was not enough understanding of the complexity of
land issues and the many different types of overlays of
federal land, state land, tribal land, and land belonging
to corporations. He thanked the sponsor for bringing the
bill forward.
Representative Hannan asked if there had been any
discussion about the potential overlap with statehood
defense funds that were included in the budgets of both DNR
and the Department of Law (DOL). She asked whether CACFA
would have access to some of the funds if the funds were
needed for litigation purposes.
Senator Kaufman responded that he saw the commission as
separate from statehood defense. The commission was
intended to act as a navigator and resource for citizens
and not as an element of defense. He suggested that his
staff could provide more input.
Co-Chair Foster offered clarification that the funds were
housed in DOL for court cases.
9:50:54 AM
EMMA TORKELSON, STAFF, SENATOR JAMES KAUFMAN, responded
that when CAFCA made a recommendation to DOL to file a
lawsuit, DOL was responsible for choosing whether to file
the lawsuit. If a lawsuit was filed, the funds would not
come from CACFA. She explained that the commission would
not participate in the lawsuit after it made its
recommendation. The fiscal note from DNR included $30,000
in out-years for CACFA to utilize DOL's resources for
research purposes. She emphasized that the funds would not
be used for lawsuits.
Representative Hannan understood that there was some money
made available within DNR to pay for specialists. She asked
if there was a potential that the funds could be used for
statehood defense and whether DNR had examined the
potential intersect. She understood that part of CACFA's
purpose was to prevent situations that would require that
the state use statehood defense funds, but she wanted to
ensure that the funds were available if needed. She asked
if there was any funding set aside for defense purposes.
Mr. Crowther responded that DNR understood that the role of
the commission was to support information sharing with the
public and to receive information from the public about
priority issues. He remarked that it was important for the
department to understand the issues that were the highest
priority to the public and it was beneficial for a formal
commission to be able to receive, process, and deliver the
information to the proper facilities.
Senator Kaufman thanked the committee for its time and was
grateful for the collaborative work that had been done on
the bill, particularly by Ms. Torkelson.
9:53:17 AM
Co-Chair Foster set an amendment deadline of Thursday, May
9 at 5:00 p.m. He expressed his intention to recess the
meeting and return if possible. [note: the meeting never
reconvened].
[Public testimony for SB 34 was CLOSED during the House
Finance Committee meeting scheduled for 1:30 p.m. on
5/8/24.]
SB 34 was HEARD and HELD for further consideration.
9:55:57 AM
RECESSED
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 9:56 a.m.
| Document Name | Date/Time | Subjects |
|---|---|---|
| SB099 Explanation of Changes 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Letters of Support 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Financial Literacy Presentation 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Sectional Analysis 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Sponsor Statement 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Supporting Documents Junior Achievement 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB099 Supporting Documents Ramsey Solutions 2022 Study 3.22.24.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB228 Sponsor Statement.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 228 |
| SB228 Supporting Documents-Sunset Audit.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 228 |
| SB 99 Public Testimony Rec'd by 5-7-2024.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |
| SB 228 Annetta Atwell Testimony 050824.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 228 |
| SB 99 Public Testimony Rec'd by 050924.pdf |
HFIN 5/8/2024 9:00:00 AM |
SB 99 |